You might want to try some of Darrell Apps daylilies. Some of those are self cleaning. That was his hybridizing goal a few years before he retired. You do make a valid point. Self cleaning daylilies would be a fine hybridizing goal.

Debra

Spent blooms bother me too. I clean every day (livehead).
Well soon you won't have this problem.
I only have one that folds its spent blooms neatly, it's Mardi Gras Parade.

If spent blooms on daylilies bothers you, you do NOT want to get into roses. Deadheading roses, with all those thorns is not for the timid. I'm so relieved that I don't end up with a bloody stub when I deadhead dayliles that I don't even think about the time spent deadheading them (which by comparison is minimal). NOTE: I just spent this PM deadheading roses and that's why it came to mind...........I think you have a somewhat valid point though about how unsightly some of those leftover blooms can be. Sometimes after a shower or a heavy dew they can be downright slimy the next day. ....Maryl

I've only found so far 2 garden plants that are self cleaning. Lilies and clematis. They drop their blooms and all I'm left with is empty stalks on the lilies and the clematis just stays green until the winter comes.

Iris, daylilies, phlox, coneflowers, roses, lavender, the list goes on all require maintenance. That is the challenges of being a gardener and having a garden. I enjoy this time of year even with the challenges because around the corner comes winter and we hibernate till spring comes around again.

You might consider just buying bushes on your next project that you just have to trim each season. There are many varieties that add color and texture to a landscape.

Ah, but juliany -- all those you mention last a week or two before nodding off. One day and then death????? And, if that day is a rainy one, too bad.

As I said before - I don't mind deadheading and trimming if things look messy (and many fading blooms look just fine) but just give me more than one day of beauty before the days and days of ugly.

BTW, some such as Baptisia are lovely even when the spent blooms turn into seed pods-----same goes for cone flowers that look wonderful with the yellow finches eating the seeds.

Why don't you list them for postage? I'm sure you'd get many people on here wanting them and willing to pay postage for them, but that's work on your part digging them up and preparing them for shipment.

Sorry --- I am up in the years and don't have the stamina to dig and send daylilies any more. I sold them on line for several years. When I still had my field of daylilies, I offered them for the digging. Ended up with lots of holes. Mowed the field after I removed a few (Ha! a few.) of my favorites.

Don't you just love it when the spent blooms slime over several buds so they aren't allowed to open?

Most mornings my husband helps me deadhead and we say that is a good time to really look at the daylilies. We used to put the spend ones in a bucket and dump in the trash, and I have a lot of daylilies, but now we just let them drop. I just returned home after seven days away and they look pretty sad with their spend blooms. We will take care of that tomorrow.

I definitely know what you mean. Deadheading is a chore. But I must say there are some daylilies that are just too beautiful not to grow and enjoy. For me , deadheading these is not so bad.

While there are both advantages and disadvantages to daylilies (they don't make a good cut flower, for example), one advantage is indeed that they only last a day. If there is a heavy rain, think what that does to a peony, a rose, an iris, etc. Those flowers are ruined and the plant takes days to get back into blooming shape. Daylilies just take it in stride and have a fresh display the next day.

Good point Mantis_oh. I agree. They do require upkeep but most beautiful gardens do.

If they took total care of themselves, I am not sure they would be the right plant for me anyway
kay